Entries in Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso
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FBI(SHABWA, Yemen) -- A drone missile strike in Shabwa, Yemen, on Sunday killed a man named Fahd Mohammad Ahmed Al-Quso, the Yemeni government said in a statement.

Al-Quso, 37, from Yemen, was best known in the United States for heading terrorist operations in the USS Cole bombing, which killed 17 American sailors in 2000. More recently, Al-Quso had replaced Anwar al Awlaki as head of external operations for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

He was continuing the terrorist group’s plans to take down an international airliner with an explosive -- one foiled in recent days, government officials say.

A previous attempt, with a bomb made by AQAP bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, had failed on Christmas Day 2009, when the bomber, Umar Faruq Abdulmuttalab, failed to detonate the device that had been hidden in his underwear.

U.S. government sources tell ABC News that Al-Quso and Asiri continued to plan for a similar terrorist attack, using a small IED that could be hidden on a person, with the same goal of bringing down an international airline.

In April, their plot, based in Yemen, was detected by intelligence sources. American and other intelligence agencies were, sources said, on top of the plot from the beginning and closely monitoring it. Early last month White House counterterrorism czar John Brennan told President Obama about the plot.

The IED is in the hands of the FBI and is, according to sources, being thoroughly examined.

FBI(WASHINGTON) -- The government of Yemen says an airstrike has killed a top al Qaeda leader who was on the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list because of his role in the attack on the USS Cole. The October 2000 bombing of the U.S. Navy destroyer killed 17 American sailors and injured 39.

The Embassy of Yemen in Washington issued a press release on Sunday saying Fahd al Quso, 37, was killed in an “airstrike” in Rafth, in the southern province of Shabwa.

The release described him as “a leading figure in the terrorist organization: al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).” It also said “Al Quso was one of Yemen’s most wanted terrorist(s). He was also indicted for his role in the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden.”

A U.S. official described al Quso to ABC News as a “senior terrorist operative” of AQAP who was “deeply involved in ongoing terrorist plotting against Yemeni and U.S. interests at the time of his death.” He also described him as being “involved in numerous attacks over many years that murdered Americans as well as Yemeni men, women, and children.”

There was no mention of who conducted the airstrike, but in the past a non-attribution airstrike usually implies that it was conducted by the either the CIA or the U.S. military.

The CIA and the U.S. military’s Joint Special Operations Command both conduct Predator drone strikes in Yemen targeting AQAP operatives. U.S. officials say the majority of the recent strikes have been conducted by the CIA.﻿

FBI(NEW YORK) -- The Yemeni embassy to the United States announced on Sunday that a senior al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader, listed by the FBI as one of Yemen's "Most Wanted Terrorists," has been killed in an airstrike.

Fahd Mohammed Ahmed alQuso was indicted in the Southern District of New York for his role in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden that killed 17 U.S. sailors. AlQuso, who was a leading figure in the terrorist organization alQaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, was killed in an airstrike in Rafth, Shabwa, according to the Yemeni Embassy in Washington.

Photo Courtesy -- FBI.gov(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. State Department on Tuesday sanctioned a known Al Qaeda operative and placed him on a list of designated global terrorists.

The State Department hopes to cut off funding to Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, an Arabian Peninsula operative who served jail time in Yemen for his role in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. citizens.

“The designation of Fahd al-Quso highlights U.S. action against the threat posed to the United States by al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula,” said U.S. Ambassador for Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin. “Today’s joint designation by the United States and the United Nations alerts the public that Fahd al-Quso is actively engaged in terrorism. These actions expose and isolate individuals like al-Quso and results in denial of access to the global financial system.”

In a video released by the AQAP in 2010, al-Quso threatened to attack the United States as well as U.S. embassies and naval ships. In 2009, he was designated by the FBI as one of their most wanted terrorist.